Since the passing of Great Grandma Val, Grandpa has been a little lonely and has been limited on what he eats as cooking was usually taken care of for him. So we decided to make up a batch of freezer meals to help him out.
After a few days of meal prep, we loaded up for our last road trip of the summer but first road trip in our new car! (well, new to us) The girls enjoyed the extra room with another row of seats, even their stuffies could travel safely!
The girls loved having their own personal hot tub at Great Grandpa's house. They swam, relaxed and watched a little TV while in the hot tub. This is the life! We had a sleepover at Great Grandpa's and before we left the next day the girls enjoyed another hot tub and playing some imagination games in his basement. There were a lot of cool, new things for them to play with and they brought back lots of childhood memories for Mom.
After a good time at Great Grandpa Palmers we loaded up and headed for a visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa Richards. We enjoyed some time outside, playing shuffle board and building a puzzle. Of course there were some treats and crafts that came out of the cupboards also. We had a great trip!!
Cera and Emilee went for their sleepover/Mike sitting at Grandma's house so Mom and Elizabeth headed out for a breakfast treat while waiting for the call to come pick them up. Elizabeth loved all the sprinkles!
We got busy playing this summer and kind of forgot about our garden. When we checked on our zucchini they were pretty big!
There have been a lot of forest fires in BC this year and the smoke has started to show up in our air. We have a few neighbors that still think its a good idea to have a nightly fire in their backyard. Dad has gone over and asked them to really think about what they are doing. He took it a step further by sending a letter to the town. He received a call from the fire chief the next day and within a few hours of the conversation, the following showed up on the towns facebook page. Way to make a difference Dad!!
The BMX track in town has been getting a makeover and was finally finished! (well almost) We decided to head over and check it out. Elizabeth was pretty nervous and spent lots of time watching the other girls.
Cera was nervous also but after going over a few of the smaller hills she was ready to go. She loved riding around the track!
Emilee did pretty good riding around but did have one little crash that made her a bit scared to keep going but she was so brave and gave it another go!!
Way to go Emilee! She was cautious but still had fun and enjoyed herself!
After lots of watching and Cera trying to help Elizabeth, Mom gave in and pushed Elizabeth around the track.
It was quite the workout for Mom as she ran around the track, pushing Elizabeth and her bike up and down the hills and cheering for her - but it was worth all the sweat for the smile, giggles and squeals from Elizabeth!
After we were done at the BMX track we headed back to load our bikes in the car and stopped to get a little more exercise on the outdoor equipment! We love these nice summer days and being able to play, play, play!!
The girls were excited to have Nonose for a week during the summer. Nonose got a lot of love and attention during that week from the girls and Mike. Mike enjoyed sitting in Cera's room and talking to Nonose.
We were happy to go see the Cardston temple as it has been awhile but sad because of the circumstances of our trip. Great Grandma Val lost her battle with cancer and we went to her funeral. We had planned to go visit her in the hospital as Emilee was feeling very emotional about her being so sick. The morning we got up to leave we received the call that she had passed away. We found it interesting that Emilee had woke up in the middle of the night because she had a dream that Great Grandma Val had died. The funeral was hard on Emilee but also helped her feel some closure.
It was a long, emotional day and Emilee asked if we could just go home after the funeral and family dinner instead of going to the graveside. So instead we stopped by the temple on our way home.
We love the temples and the blessings that they bring to our families. Because of the blessings of the temple, we know we can be together for all eternity as a family.
This month we were also able to enjoy a trip to Sikome Lake with Tori and the girls she watches. It was a nice hot day and the girls had a blast playing.
Of course some of the girls wanted to be buried in the sand!
Emilee even got some decorations on her sand covering. It makes Mom's skin crawl just looking at Emilee in the sand! Yuck!
Elizabeth had planted some lettuce with her aid Amber. We finally cut it out of the garden - it was huge! Sadly it was a little bitter because we had left it too long. Even though we didn't eat it, Elizabeth was still super proud that she had grown something so big and great!
The girls have been asking for milkshakes so finally Mom made some. What a fun afternoon snack on a hot day!
We were so excited to hear our friends would be in town for a visit again! The girls had a blast playing with them all afternoon. They enjoyed some time in the pool, a picnic under the tramp, playing on the play set and even a few crafts. They were sad to see them go and talked about next summer already. (Mom enjoyed a wonderful visit with her friend too!) We love good friends!
After we said goodbye to our friends we loaded up and headed for some dessert with Grandma Richards and Tori on our way to see The Lion King play. The girls were so excited to order their own desserts!
We had such a good time at the play. Of course the girls wanted to get a stuffy but when Mom said no, they settled for a picture by them.
We loved the play! The costumes were great (especially the animals) and the girls really enjoyed the story and songs. The company was exceptional too!
It was a later show - even Cera, who rarely falls asleep in the car, couldn't make it all the way home. What a great way to end an amazing day. The girls can't wait to go to another show!
We were able to have a few days as a family camping. Dad was able to enjoy some fishing at the side of the lake while the girls played.
Dad also headed out in the canoe with the girls for a few trips. They loved every minute of it!
Cera and Emilee played great together! They have fun floating in the water, paddling on the kayak and coming up with imagination games to play.
They loved diving in the water with Dad. (He does it way more often than Mom and then has water fights with the girls after!)
He also throws the girls around in the water. It's fun to hear them laugh and giggle as they play.
Elizabeth found her friend from previous years. She picked up right where they left off and wasn't shy about pulling her chair and treats over to their area to visit. What a girl!
Check out Emilee's smile as she rides on Dad's shoulders. The girls just love how fun and playful Dad is.
The girls love to water fight! They tried to use the boogie boards as shields from Dad's shots but they didn't always work and for sure didn't help when they were trying to shoot Dad.
Cera and Dad enjoyed a few paddles and fishing together. Cera has a little more patience to fish from the canoe - it's a lot of waiting and being quiet. Elizabeth and Emilee are more into playing and exploring than sitting waiting.
How fantastic!! Mom was feeling very relaxed and blessed. The girls were playing great, the weather was fabulous and Mom got to just sit and read. What a great summer evening camping!!
The girls were able to go camping a few days before Dad could come. We enjoyed some time at the lake but also took a trip to Kalispell to do some shopping. Emilee found this sweater and thought it was pretty awesome. It was more money than Mom wanted to spend on a sweater though so we just took a picture.
One of the towns we drove through had this fishing rod. The girls thought we had to stop and get a picture for Dad.
One of the things the girls bought on our trip was these bubble gloves. They played with them for hours at the campground. They thought it was pretty awesome to blow bubbles and then be able to catch and hold them. We love the excited faces and smiles the bubbles brought - what a great purchase!
The girls loved using Dad's practice rod to brush up their fly fishing skills. It was good to watch them learn and get better and to see a proud Dad sharing his love for fly fishing with his girls.
One day we skipped the beach and headed into Fernie for a family day. We checked out some of the little shops in town. The girls thought this chair made out of skis was cute.
We enjoyed a picnic at the park followed by some playing. It was one of the hottest days we were there and we were grateful for some shade.
Then we headed to the theater to watch the new Fantastic 4. The girls like to watch the original shows. We had fun at the movie but the movie itself wasn't as good as we were expecting/hoping for. We did love that we had the theater almost all to ourselves - one other family of 4 came in shortly after the movie started.
On the last day Dad was camping he got up way too early and took Cera fishing by Sparwood for the morning. Mom, Elizabeth and Emilee met them at lunch for a picnic and then Emilee got to spend a few hours fishing with Dad while the rest of us found some parks to play at in town. We also spent some time checking out the huge truck in town. We often talk about stopping but haven't done it often as we are headed to camping or home after camping. We learned some new things and Elizabeth enjoyed taking pictures with her and Bailey.
Emilee enjoyed some alone time with Dad and had fun using her fly fishing skills.
After a few hours we all met up again and Elizabeth took a few turns. She was pretty excited to be fishing for real!
Cera and Emilee couldn't get enough fishing. Earlier in the day Cera caught a fish but it slipped out of her little hands before Dad got a picture taken. She really wanted to catch another one.
Elizabeth enjoyed playing on the rocks by the river and hanging out with Mom. Mom read some of her book and enjoyed watching the fishers. After awhile Mom and the girls loaded up and headed back to the campground while Dad got a little more fishing in before heading for home.
On our way back to the campground we stopped at the spring by the side of the road. The girls each filled a container with water. They thought it was pretty cool that they could get cold water right off the mountain and drink it.
No summer is complete without a screamer or two! Mom just loved the view of these super smiley faces - giggling at things only silly sisters do.
Elizabeth loves to have her feet buried in the sand.
She also loves to give foot massages with sand (yes sounds wonderful doesn't it!?!) and bury Mom's feet too. It was much nicer to have done at this beach by the ice cream store as the sand is a lot softer and less rocky.
The day after Dad left the girls headed for home. We decided to not go to the beach but to play at some parks on the way home. The girls love the school park in Fernie.
We also decided to stop at this lake (Island Lake) we drive past all the time. The lake is on both sides of the road and very close to the road. It was a cold lake when we dipped our toes in but gorgeous! The girls found a few unique shells in the lake. It was nice to finally stop and enjoy the view instead of just driving by.
We also decided to stop at the spray park in Coleman - Flumerfelt Park. The girls had a blast playing at the spray park and enjoying the sun. The breeze was a little cold but they braved it for quite a while.
After the spray park we headed over to check out the biggest piggy bank in the world. The girls each put some change inside.
Look at my cute pioneers!
Someone then told us that there was a nice little hike up to the old mine. We thought that sounded like a great adventure so we headed on our way. We enjoyed the hike through the trees by a creek but unfortunately we did not find the mine.
Before we headed back from our adventure we stopped by the creek for the girls to dip their toes and wet their heads to cool down. It was a fun adventure even though we didn't find the mine.
We got back on the road for home but there was one more surprise in store for us - a moose!! Luckily Mom noticed him before he jumped the fence and ran across the road in front of us. The girls were surprised how big he was yet how quickly he could move for his size.
We enjoyed having a different drive home than normal and grateful for another great camping trip!
